Picture Perfect
by DD Agent
Summary: Brenda doesn't do kids, but she is trying her best with Flynn's seven year old son. Andy/Brenda


**Picture Perfect by DD Agent**

_I do not own The Closer or any of its characters, or its settings_

Brenda watched as her boys played in the garden. Andy Flynn was running around with a water pistol, squirting it at his seven year old son Drew. The brown haired boy was a miniature version of Flynn, right down to the cheeky grin and big heart. She had never been one for kids, but as he was so much like the man she loved, she had fallen for the little boy.

"Brenda! Brenda!" Drew shouted, dragging the blonde into the garden to play with them. She was soaked within seconds by the two boys. Deciding to get revenge, she tackled Flynn to the floor and they ended up kissing. Drew shook his head and decided to play with his policeman figures in his tree house.

Over lunch both boys wolfed down the sandwiches Andy had made. Brenda ate hers equally as fast. All of them in the house liked their food - but thank goodness Andy did most of the cooking. His father had been a chef, and had taught him all he knew.

She looked at both of them sitting there and couldn't believe how much her life had changed since coming to Los Angeles. When she had first come to LA she had hated Flynn. He made her life miserable, and she couldn't count the amount of nights she had cried herself to sleep, feeling unwelcome in her own life. But after Croelick, he had taken her out for a drink as a thank you and they had started dating. Within a year he had proposed, and by the time she had been in LA for four years they were married. They had moved into a new place with a huge garden as Flynn liked being outdoors. She hadn't wanted kids, but that was okay - he loved her without question and was more than happy to just have her.

As it turned out, Flynn already had a child. He had got divorced about a month before Brenda came to town, and his toxic blonde harpy of a wife took their one year old son to Chicago. When Debbie had been killed in a car crash two years before, custody had initially gone to her parents but eventually passed to Flynn. Drew was a nervous young boy who played with a baseball and constantly looked down at the floor. He barely knew his father or his wife, and in all honesty barely knew his mother before she had died. But Drew had a huge sweet tooth and he and Brenda would often bake at weekends before watching football in the living room with Andy.

"Provenza got some tickets to see the Dodgers - you wanna come with me and Drew?"

"Raydor going to be there?"

Andy spat out his drink before chuckling. Brenda joined in, but both of them knew she was only half kidding. She wasn't the biggest fan of his friendship with Sharon Raydor. It had taken Provenza six months after she had first clashed with her over Gabriel's shooting to tell her that Andy's first wife Sarah left him due to his drinking and his affair with a colleague - Raydor. However, since his stabbing the two had renewed their friendship and Brenda was unsure how to take it. Especially as since then she had realised she couldn't live without him.

"Yeah, she is. And did I tell you she's seeing someone? Some guy at the office, I don't know," Andy shrugged. He moved over and kissed his wife on the nose. "I know where you're coming from, Brenda. Every time you have a late night meeting with Pope I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach, but it means nothing. I trust you, I trust us."

"I do trust you. It's her I don't trust; you're such a good catch."

They spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and sharing moments of the week - Flynn had moved back to Robbery/Homicide two weeks after they had been married. No one had known that they had even been together until about four hours before their wedding. They were discussing their plans for the weekend; they were going out for dinner that night and then going over to Brenda's parents tomorrow for Sunday lunch. Brenda's parents had moved out to LA in April; they adored Drew and he liked going over there so her parents were ideal babysitters.

"Just got a text from Debbie's brother - he wants to come and visit Drew," Flynn mentioned, checking his phone as he joined his wife on the lounger, back from getting drinks. His son was now arresting a couple of dinosaurs. "I think it might upset him, he doesn't talk about his mother much."

"Talk to him, see what he thinks. He is seven, Andy, he's aware of more than we realise," Brenda smiled as Andy slid his arm around her. "Maybe it would be good to get some of her family involved, all he knows is mine. I mean, I don't know what we'd do without my parents coming over when we're called out but I'm pretty useless when it comes to him. The more family he has the better."

"Well I think you're doing great with him, being a parent is…hard. You're not the only one who has had to adapt pretty quickly. I've been a father for seven years, but only a Dad for the last two."

They snuggled together under the hot LA sun as they watched Drew play. Their own little family, it was nice.

X

"Andy, have you seen my earrings?"

Brenda was getting ready for their dinner; it was their three year wedding anniversary and Flynn had made reservations at some high priced Italian place. Brenda would much rather have a romantic dinner at home, but Flynn wanted to take her out on the town, show her off. She didn't mind being on his arm, he always looked dashing in formal wear.

"Maybe they're in your jewellery box," Flynn called out from the bathroom where he was getting changed.

She walked over and looked in the box, finding a small wrapped present in there. She shook her head at her husband and ripped off the wrapping, examining the little jewellery box. She guessed earrings, but when she opened it, it was a ring.

"It's an eternity ring," Flynn whispered from behind her, putting two arms around her waist. "I picked it up at some jewellery store in Hollywood; I couldn't stop looking at it. I want you to know that despite everything, through anything, we're together forever."

Brenda kissed him, pulling the collar of his shirt closer so she could feel him pressed flush against her. He grinned at her and spun her close into his arms, his hands going tightly around the waist of her black dress. She looked so beautiful, with her hair loose and the light make up on her face. Like a princess. Their kiss was soft, and Andy felt her tremble underneath him as his tongue traced her lips, making her open to him. He loved how he made her feel, even three years into marriage. By his experience things had already gone wrong by then, but not with Brenda.

"Do you guys always have to do that? You need to come up for air some time!"

Brenda and Flynn broke apart to see Drew, in dinosaur pyjamas standing at the doorway. Andy shook his head, kneeling down to grin at his son. "We do it because me and Brenda love each other. One day you'll be kissing girls."

"Not likely. I'm going to be a dinosaur cop, and that's a lone journey. We don't do the women."

Brenda told him to go brush his teeth before his babysitter got there, and she turned to Flynn, confused. He just shook his head, laughing. "He wants to police dinosaurs. And, talking of dinosaurs, I don't think we should let Provenza babysit any time in the near future. 'We don't do the women', jeez!"

She slid the eternity ring on her finger and finished applying the last of her makeup. Flynn was doing up his tie in the mirror. She leant against her dresser, watching him - his suit jacket and waistcoat looked so elegant on him. When they had been dating he'd taken her dancing and he had gone all out, looking like a Vegas gangster. Although he didn't care much about it, he liked to look nice for her.

"That'll be the babysitter," Brenda announced as the doorbell rang. She swept up her skirts and headed to the door, Drew on her heels. He held her skirt like the bridesmaids did on television before holding her hand as she opened the door. "Hello."

Flynn had organised the babysitter. Brenda hadn't realised it was going to be Captain Raydor. Dressed in one of her usual Armani suits, she smiled at the Deputy Chief. "You look lovely, Chief Johnson."

"She looks incredible," Flynn said as he joined the ladies, his gaze never leaving Brenda. Eventually he turned to Sharon. "Thanks for coming."

"No problem, my ex has the kids tonight. Hey Drew, I'm Sharon."

The seven year old hid behind Brenda's dress, scared of the woman at the door. Brenda couldn't blame him, and she decided to take the boy's hand and led him down to his bedroom while Andy and Sharon talked about baseball. She didn't think she could make small talk with the Captain.

Andy usually put Drew to bed; he liked it when his Dad read him bed time stories. Brenda was not so good with the domestic motherhood that seemed expected of her by everyone else. But she genuinely loved Drew, and wanted to make sure he was okay once they went out.

"Now, be nice to Captain Raydor, okay? She's a good friend of your Daddy's, and she has kids so she'll be nice." Brenda tucked him in under the duvet awkwardly. "Just don't, when getting up for a glass of water, put cling film on the toilet seat again like you did when Mr Gabriel looked after you, no matter what Mr Sanchez taught you."

Drew giggled and reached up over his duvet and hugged Brenda. "I love you Brenda. I'm glad you married my Dad."

She kissed him goodnight and kept the nightlight on, which was of a dinosaur. "I love you too, Drew. Sleep well; Sharon will be here if you need her."

Sharon and Flynn were swapping old baseball stories when she came out. There was no hidden agenda by Sharon; she was truly Flynn's friend. Brenda smiled at the Captain as she joined her husband, grateful for his hand. She was afraid every day of losing him. "Thanks for babysitting, Sharon. I'm sure Flynn has given you all our numbers."

"He has. Have a good night you two…you deserve it," Sharon said as she waved them goodbye.

Reluctantly, Brenda and Andy left the house. Flynn wrapped his jacket around Brenda's shoulders, the wrap insufficient to keep her warm in the cool LA night. A taxi cab was waiting at the kerb for them, and Andy took Brenda's arm within his own. "I love you, Brenda Leigh Johnson."

"I love you too." They took their time getting to the kerb. "You know, I don't think I ever could be a Mom, it's too hard."

Andy took her hand and kissed it. "You know, I feel the same way, Brenda, I always feel like I'm doing things wrong. But as hard as it is, Drew will never remember his Mom; he'll forget everything but a handful of memories. We're his family, his parents. And if we screw up, we'll just blame it all on Provenza."

"Sounds good to me!"

Andy helped her into the cab and passed the driver some notes to take them to where they wanted to go. Brenda looked confused, the directions didn't sound right. "I thought we were going to some posh Italian place."

He smiled at her, stroking her face. "I want to take you dancing."

Brenda rested her head on Flynn's shoulder, reaching for his hand. She closed her eyes and concentrated on just the feel of her husband's body against hers, and how content she felt. This was what pure happiness felt like. She looked up to find Andy watching her with loving eyes. His hand was stroking hers, turning the eternity ring round on her finger.

Their vows and promises wouldn't be just words with them: both of them had finally found the happiness they had been trying to find for too long.

Their vows and promises wouldn't be just words with them: they had finally found each other.


End file.
